Digital forensics system

ABSTRACT

A digital forensics system includes an ingestion system, an analysis system including analysis workstations, an archive system including storage arrays, and a server system including an evidence storage server and a virtual desktop server. The ingestion system includes ingestion workstations operable to receive extracted data from devices under analysis. The evidence storage server includes resources operable to generate evidence packages based on extracted data from the devices under analysis. The virtual desktop server includes resources operable to generate virtual desktop sessions that interface with the analysis workstations and interface with the evidence storage server to access the extracted data in the evidence packages, store work products in the evidence packages based on a forensic analysis of the extracted data in the evidence packages, and store associated work products with a second copy of extracted data to the archive system.

BACKGROUND

Digital forensics can be performed to analyze various types of digitalmedia as part of an investigation and analysis process. Digital forensicactivities must be performed in a controlled and repeatable manner toensure that the integrity of the device under analysis is maintained andthat malware does not spread from an infected device. If a large varietyof devices is to be supported, the number of hardware and software toolsneeded for analysis and interfacing with devices can become difficult tomanage. Further, the ability to use and re-use forensic analysis toolscan be constrained by the amount of dedicated processing resourcesneeded to run an analysis session, which can limit the availability offorensic analysis tools and processing resources while a long-runninganalysis session is active. Digital forensic analysis tools can also beslowed by the need to locally reconfigure a workstation for eachanalysis session to ensure that the workstation starts from a known goodstate by removing previously loaded files and reloading the workstationwith known good files while isolated from network resources to avoidcontamination risks.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject matter which is regarded as the invention is particularlypointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion ofthe specification. The features and advantages of the invention areapparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of a digital forensics system accordingto some embodiments of the present invention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B depict a physical architecture of a digital forensicssystem according to some embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 3 depicts a computer system according to some embodiments of thepresent invention;

FIGS. 4A and 4B depict a data flow diagram according to some embodimentsof the present invention; and

FIG. 5 depicts a process flow according to some embodiments of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

According to an embodiment, a system for digital forensics is provided.The system can balance security, scalability, speed of access, and otherfactors. The use of virtual desktop sessions rather than dedicatedworkstations provides flexibility in deployment of processing resourcesand isolation of threats when analyzing a device infected with malware.High bandwidth access to working data sets and archived datasets can beachieved economically using networked systems in close physicalproximity to reduce communication latency. Virtual desktop sessions andservers can be built from a single master image so each new analysis jobcan start from a known good state. If an analysis desktop session isaccidently infected with malware, the infected session can be deletedand rebuilt from the master image. Change control with auditing can beapplied to all files and file systems to ensure that analysis supporttools and configuration files are not modified without permission andtraceability.

A digital forensics system can be implemented in multiple segregatednetwork zones to partition standard analysis tasks from otherunsupported or obsolete platforms and/or to study unknown and/or highlycontagious/dangerous malware. Physical space segmentation can also beused to separate analysis systems, ingestion systems, and/or archivalsystems from publicly accessible spaces. Scalability can be provided byconfigurable support for multiple operating systems, input/outputtechnologies, networked data sources, various file types, and physicalmedia types. Scalability can also be achieved using a modular frameworkthat supports hardware and/or software additions without interruptingwork in progress. Scalability and speed can also be improved by using ajust-a-bunch-of-disks (JBOD) file system in close physical proximity tomanage a portion of archival storage while using a remote (offsite)backup archive for redundancy and geographic diversity. Accordingly, thesystem may be used for digital forensic analysis in a computer networksystem that solves multiple network-centric problems that arenecessarily rooted in computer technology and specifically arise in therealm of computer networks.

Turning now to FIG. 1, a digital forensics system 100 is depicted uponwhich digital forensics may be implemented. The digital forensics system100 includes a server system 102, an ingestion system 104, an analysissystem 106, and an archive system 108. The server system 102 can includean evidence storage server 110 and a virtual desktop server 112. Theserver system 102 may be an integrated compute/storage/and networkappliance (e.g., hyper-converged) to host virtual ingestion and analysissessions. A hyper-converged system infrastructure can tightly integratecompute, storage, networking and virtualization resources and othertechnologies in commodity hardware supported by a single vendor, forexample. As a hyper-converged system, the server system 102 can behighly scalable to allow changing of storage/processing nodes with autodetection and provisioning while remaining online to increase ordecrease available resources. The server system 102 can interfacevarious servers using one or more local or wide area networks and mayalso interface with one or more external network 105, such as theInternet.

The ingestion system 104 can include one or more ingestion workstations114 operable to receive a plurality of sets of extracted data from oneor more devices under analysis 116. Examples of devices under analysis116 can include mobile devices, hard disk drives, universal serial bus(USB) drives, digital video recorders, and other types of optical and/ormagnetic media compatible with various computer systems known in theart, e.g., laptop computers, desktop computers, tablet computers, andthe like. In some embodiments, a write blocking device 118 is coupledbetween each of the one or more ingestion workstations 114 and the oneor more devices under analysis 116. The write blocking device 118prevents each of the one or more ingestion workstations 114 from writingto the one or more devices under analysis 116 to preserve the integrityof the one or more devices under analysis 116. Each write blockingdevice 118 can send raw data 120, for instance, in a raw USB-compatibleformat, to a corresponding one of the one or more ingestion workstations114.

The analysis system 106 can include one or more analysis workstations122. The analysis workstations 122 can interface with the one or morevirtual desktop sessions 124 generated by processing and memoryresources of the virtual desktop server 112. The one or more virtualdesktop sessions 124 can be provisioned with a predeterminedconfiguration and toolset operable to perform the forensic analysisbased on a data source device type of sets of extracted data (e.g.,originating from one or more of the devices under analysis 116). A newinstance of the one or more virtual desktop sessions 124 may beprovisioned for each new analysis session. The one or more virtualdesktop sessions 124 are operable to continue execution as one or morebackground tasks on the virtual desktop server 112 absent user input onthe one or more analysis workstations 122. For example, an analyst caninitiate a first virtual desktop session 124 to perform a hard diskdrive forensic analysis and then switch to performing a video forensicanalysis in a second virtual desktop session 124 from the same analysisworkstation 122 without stopping or pausing the hard disk drive forensicanalysis. Similarly, an analyst can use a same analysis workstation 122to perform a photo forensic analysis in one virtual desktop session 124while a file copy process is active in another virtual desktop session124 involving different operating systems and tools as virtualizedthrough the same analysis workstation 122.

The archive system 108 can include multiple storage arrays, such as aprimary archive storage array 126 and a secondary archive storage array128. The primary archive storage array 126 and the secondary archivestorage array 128 can be at geographically separated locations. Theprimary archive storage array 126 and the secondary archive storagearray 128 are operable to archive data from the evidence storage server110 for long-term storage. The primary archive storage array 126 and/orthe secondary archive storage array 128 can be formed from a JBOD filesystem scalable to a plurality of petabytes, for example.

The evidence storage server 110 can include a plurality of processingand memory resources operable to generate a plurality of evidencepackages 130 based on sets of extracted data from the one or moredevices under analysis 116. For example, a first evidence package 130Amay be associated with hard disk drive analysis case, a second evidencepackage 130B can be associated with a video analysis case, and a thirdevidence package 130C can be associated with a photo analysis case. Itwill be understood that there can be any number or type of analysiscases captured in each of the evidence packages 130. The evidencepackages 130 can include various types of data in different formatspackaged together. For instance, one of the evidence packages 130 caninclude one or more image files 132 (i.e., binary copies of extracteddata, not necessarily photo/video files), intermediate work products 134such as notes and analysis of raw data, and presentation materials 136such as various reports. In some embodiments, the virtual desktop server112 is operable to create one or more reports in the one or more virtualdesktop sessions 124 based on one or more associated work products andstore the reports in the intermediate work products 134 or thepresentation materials 136.

In the example of FIG. 1, each of the server system 102, ingestionsystem 104, analysis system 106, and archive system 108 can include atleast one processor (e.g., a processing device, such as one or moremicroprocessors, one or more microcontrollers, one or more digitalsignal processors) that receives instructions (e.g., from memory or likedevice), executes those instructions, and performs one or more processesdefined by those instructions. Instructions may be embodied, forexample, in one or more computer programs and/or one or more scripts. Inone example, the digital forensics system 100 executes computerinstructions for implementing the exemplary processes described herein.Instructions that implement various process steps can be executed bydifferent elements of the digital forensics system 100, such as elementsof the server system 102, ingestion system 104, analysis system 106,and/or archive system 108.

The ingestion workstations 114 and the analysis workstations 122 mayeach be implemented using a computer executing one or more computerprograms to support carrying out processes described herein. In oneembodiment, the ingestion workstations 114 and the analysis workstations122 may each be a personal computer (e.g., a laptop, desktop, etc.), anetwork server-attached terminal (e.g., a thin client operating within anetwork), or a portable device (e.g., a tablet computer, personaldigital assistant, smart phone, etc.). In an embodiment, the ingestionworkstations 114 and the analysis workstations 122 are operated by usershaving the role of a forensic analyst or technician.

Each of the server system 102, ingestion system 104, analysis system106, and archive system 108 can include one or more local data storagedevices, such as a memory device. A memory device, also referred toherein as “computer-readable memory” (e.g., non-transitory memorydevices as opposed to transmission devices or media), may generallystore program instructions, code, and/or modules that, when executed bya processing device, cause a particular machine to function inaccordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

Communication between the server system 102, ingestion system 104,analysis system 106, and archive system 108 can be established using anytype of computer communication technology within the digital forensicssystem 100 and can extend beyond the digital forensics system 100 asdepicted. Examples include a wide area network (WAN), a local areanetwork (LAN), a global network (e.g., Internet), a virtual privatenetwork (VPN), and an intranet. Communication within the digitalforensics system 100 may be implemented using a wired network, anoptical network, a wireless network and/or any kind of physical networkimplementation known in the art that meets the desired level ofsecurity.

FIGS. 2A and 2B depict an example of a physical architecture of thedigital forensics system 100 of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment. Theserver system 102, ingestion system 104, analysis system 106, and aportion of the archive system 108 can be at a first geographic location202 that is separate from another portion of the archive system 108 at asecond geographic location 204. In the example of FIGS. 2A and 2B, thearchive system 108 manages the primary archive storage array 126 at thefirst geographic location 202 and manages the secondary archive storagearray 128 at the second geographic location 204. A restricted accessnetwork 210 can support data exchange between the server system 102,ingestion system 104, analysis system 106, and archive system 108, forinstance, using a metro area network class line. The restricted accessnetwork 210 can limit the transfer of data files, such as working files212 on the virtual desktop server 112 or finalized files 214 on theevidence storage server 110 to/from the primary archive storage array126 and the secondary archive storage array 128. Redundant switches 216and routers 218 can provide firewalls and intrusion prevention anddetection with respect to the restricted access network 210, and routers220 can control access on an extended restricted access network 222 whenaccessing the secondary archive storage array 128.

In some embodiments, the digital forensics system 100 can also include adongle server 224 operable to communicate with the virtual desktopserver 112 and limit access to one or more licenses associated with oneor more applications of a toolset accessible through the ingestionworkstations 114 and/or the analysis workstations 122. For example,plugging a USB drive containing licenses into the dongle server 224 canenable access to a pool of licenses for ingestion tools and/or forensicanalysis tools. This maximizes license availability rather than limitingtool access to users who are permanently assigned licenses or mustotherwise individually possess a license dongle (e.g., a USB driveholding one or more licenses).

At the first geographic location 202 or elsewhere, the digital forensicssystem 100 can also include a malware analysis system 226 that isphysically separated from the ingestion system 104, the analysis system106, the archive system 108, and the server system 102 by an air gapnetwork 228. The air gap network 228 can include any type of wirelesscommunication protocol support between a wireless router 230 andexternal network switches 232 operable to access the external network105. Various physical devices 234, hypervisor devices 236, and otherdevice types, such as displays (not depicted) can interface with themalware analysis system 226. The malware analysis system 226 can be alimited access network interface operable to selectively allow and blockone or more attempted Internet access requests to the external network105. The limited access network interface formed between the wirelessrouter 230 and external network switches 232 is operable track one ormore attempted interactions with one or more remote systems across theInternet. Some interactions may be observed to assist in determining anexternal entity that is attempting to communicate with a malwareinfected device, including a physical device 234 or a simulated devicethrough the hypervisor devices 236 using virtual machine resources.Analysis actions performed at the malware analysis system 226 caninclude interactions with otherwise unsupported software to limitpossible contamination of other systems. Case data collected at themalware analysis system 226 can be archived on a USB drive and broughtto the ingestion system 104 as a device under analysis 116, forinstance. Resulting files and transfers to and from the malware analysissystem 226 can be encrypted. Other connections to the external network105 may also be supported by various elements of the forensics analysissystem 100.

FIG. 3 depicts a block diagram of a system 300 according to anembodiment. The system 300 is depicted embodied in a computer 301 inFIG. 3. The system 300 is an example of one or a portion of the serversystem 102, ingestion system 104, analysis system 106, or archive system108 of FIG. 1.

In an exemplary embodiment, in terms of hardware architecture, as shownin FIG. 3, the computer 301 includes a processing device 305 and amemory device 310 coupled to a memory controller 315 and an input/outputcontroller 335. The input/output controller 335 may comprise, forexample, one or more buses or other wired or wireless connections, as isknown in the art. The input/output controller 335 may have additionalelements, which are omitted for simplicity, such as controllers, buffers(caches), drivers, repeaters, and receivers, to enable communications.Further, the computer 301 may include address, control, and/or dataconnections to enable appropriate communications among theaforementioned components.

In an exemplary embodiment, a keyboard 350 and mouse 355 or similardevices can be coupled to the input/output controller 335.Alternatively, input may be received via a touch-sensitive or motionsensitive interface (not depicted). The computer 301 can further includea display controller 325 coupled to a display 330.

The processing device 305 comprises a hardware device for executingsoftware, particularly software stored in secondary storage 320 ormemory device 310. The processing device 305 may comprise any custommade or commercially available computer processor, a central processingunit (CPU), an auxiliary processor among several processors associatedwith the computer 301, a semiconductor-based microprocessor (in the formof a microchip or chip set), a macro-processor, or generally any devicefor executing instructions.

The memory device 310 can include any one or combination of volatilememory elements (e.g., random access memory (RAM, such as DRAM, SRAM,SDRAM, etc.)) and nonvolatile memory elements (e.g., ROM, erasableprogrammable read only memory (EPROM), electronically erasableprogrammable read only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, programmable readonly memory (PROM), tape, compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM), flashdrive, disk, hard disk drive, diskette, cartridge, cassette or the like,etc.). Moreover, the memory device 310 may incorporate electronic,magnetic, optical, and/or other types of storage media. Accordingly, thememory device 310 is an example of a tangible computer readable storagemedium 340 upon which instructions executable by the processing device305 may be embodied as a computer program product. The memory device 310can have a distributed architecture, where various components aresituated remote from one another, but can be accessed by one or moreinstances of the processing device 305.

The instructions in memory device 310 may include one or more separateprograms, each of which comprises an ordered listing of executableinstructions for implementing logical functions. In the example of FIG.3, the instructions in the memory device 310 include a suitableoperating system (OS) 311 and program instructions 316. The operatingsystem 311 essentially controls the execution of other computer programsand provides scheduling, input-output control, file and data management,memory management, and communication control and related services. Whenthe computer 301 is in operation, the processing device 305 isconfigured to execute instructions stored within the memory device 310,to communicate data to and from the memory device 310, and to generallycontrol operations of the computer 301 pursuant to the instructions.Examples of program instructions 316 can include instructions toimplement the server system 102, ingestion system 104, analysis system106, and/or archive system 108 of FIG. 1.

The computer 301 of FIG. 3 also includes a network interface 360 thatcan establish communication channels with one or more other computersystems via one or more network links. The network interface 360 cansupport wired and/or wireless communication protocols known in the art.For example, when embodied in the server system 102, the networkinterface 360 can establish communication channels with at least one ofingestion system 104, analysis system 106, or archive system 108 via therestricted access network 210 or the extended restricted access network222 of FIGS. 2A and 2B.

FIGS. 4A and 4B depict an example of a data flow 400 according to anembodiment and is described in reference to FIGS. 1-3. Digital forensicsanalysis can begin with ingestion of data from a device under analysis116, Internet social media or a video site, for example, as may beaccessed over external network 105. A device under analysis 116 can beconnected to an ingestion workstation 114 using an appropriate cable foran input/output interface of the device under analysis 116 and may passthrough a write blocker 118.

Prior to starting ingestion of data, a physical ingestion computer 402can be prepared including ingestion tools 404 as part of ingestionprocessing 406 in a physical computer ingestion process 408.Alternatively, an ingestion virtual desktop session 412 can beprovisioned including ingestion tools 414 as part of ingestionprocessing 406 in a virtual computer ingestion process 410 with aphysical ingestion port of the ingestion workstation 114 used to connectwith the device under analysis 116.

A new ingestion virtual desktop session 412 can be provisioned each timethat a new device under analysis 116 is connected to eliminate thepossibility of contamination. The ingestion virtual desktop session 412can be hosted off the server system 102 to provide high levels ofperformance and concurrency. The server system 102 can also serve up aseparate file system used to store a separate safety copy of theingested data, for instance, in file system 416 in the evidence storageserver 110. A file share can be mapped from the file system 416 to thephysical ingestion computer 402 and/or the ingestion virtual desktopsession 412 to store 415 ingested data and associated files as a firstcopy 417 of the sets of extracted data from one or more devices underanalysis 116, which can include image data 418, working files 420, andfinal products 422 to group as an evidence package 130. After ingestingthe data, another local working copy of ingested data and associatedfiles can be stored 425 to the primary archive storage array 126 of thearchive system 108 as a second copy 424 of the sets of extracted data,which can include image data 426, working files 428, and final products430.

The archive system 108 can use replication to create a third copy 432 ofthe sets of extracted data from the primary archive storage array 126 tothe secondary archive storage array 128, which may be performed byreplication 434 through a staging area 436 of the primary archivestorage array 126 based on the second copy 424 of the sets of extracteddata. The archive system 108 can write the third copy 432 of the sets ofextracted data to the secondary archive storage array 128. The copies417, 424, 432 of data can be partitioned and grouped such that imagedata 418 in the first copy 417, image data 426 in the second copy 424,and image data 438 in the third copy 432 can be updated at differenttimes relative to other portions of each evidence package 130. Each copy417, 424, 432 of data can be cryptographically hashed to establish thateach is an original/authentic copy. Cryptographic hashing may be appliedto the image data 418, 426, 438 such that each image file 132 includes arespective copy of the image data 418, 426, 438 with a correspondinghash value.

In embodiments, after creating the second copy 424 of image data 426 andthe third copy 432 of the image data 438 from ingested data, a newvirtual desktop session 124 can be provisioned with a wide range ofanalysis tools 440 to examine 442 the ingested data captured in theimage data 418 of the first copy 417 in an analysis process 444accessible through an analysis workstation 122. A new virtual desktopsession 124 can be provisioned each time that an analyst starts workingwith a new instance of image data 418 to eliminate the possibility ofcontamination. The tools 440 run in the virtual desktop session 124 andcan be accessed from multiple analysis workstations 122 and/or otherdevices (not depicted) operable to communicate on the restricted accessnetwork 210. The tools 440 can run for a number of hours, for example,and multiple instances of the tools 440 can be run in the same virtualdesktop session 124 or across multiple virtual desktop sessions 124simultaneously.

Once the analysis is complete and the activity is closed, allactivity-related files can be compiled, including working files and/orfinal products such as analysis output, presentations, documents,reports, and the like. The working files 420 can be updated 446 by thetools 440 and copied 448 to working files 428. The working files 428 canbe archived in the primary archive storage array 126 but need not becopied to the secondary archive storage array 128. The virtual desktopserver 112 is operable to create one or more reports in the virtualdesktop session 124 based on one or more associated work products, forinstance, final products 422 generated by tools 440 based on work files420. The final products 422 can be copied 452 to final products 430. Thearchive system 108 can replicate one or more reports, such as finalproducts 430, based on the one or more associated work products from theprimary archive storage array 126 to the secondary archive storage array128 as final products 454. Other file systems 456 on one or more otherservers 458 may also be sent 460 a replication of the one or morereports as final products 462.

Archived files in the archive system 108 can be organized andpartitioned in various folders and subfolders. For example, folder namescan be created that contain a combination of a case file identifier, acase file date, and/or other identifying information. Data can belocated based on a case file identifier or other identifier to locatetargeted archived data, for example. Indexing and keyword searches canbe supported in the archive system 108 to increase data location andretrieval speeds. Access logs, modification logs, and/other controls canbe applied to the archive system 108 to limit access and providetraceability for actions taken.

Turning now to FIG. 5, a process flow 500 is depicted according to anembodiment. The process flow 500 includes a number of steps that may beperformed in the depicted sequence or in an alternate sequence. Theprocess flow 500 may be performed by the digital forensics system 100 ofFIG. 1. In one embodiment, the process flow 500 is performed by theserver system 102 of FIG. 1 in combination with the ingestion system104, analysis system 106, and archive system 108. Although the exampleof process flow 500 is described in reference to the evidence storageserver 110 and the virtual desktop server 112 of the server system 102,the process flow 500 can be distributed over one or more other servers(not depicted). The process flow 500 is described in reference to FIGS.1-5.

At step 502, a plurality of evidence packages 130 can be generated basedon a first copy 417 of sets of extracted data from one or more devicesunder analysis 116 by a first plurality of processing and memoryresources of the evidence storage server 110.

At step 504, one or more virtual desktop sessions 124 that interfacewith one or more analysis workstations 122 of the analysis system 106and interface with the evidence storage server 110 to access the firstcopy 417 of the sets of extracted data in the evidence packages 130 canbe generated by a second plurality of processing and memory resources ofthe virtual desktop server 112. The virtual desktop server 112 isoperable to create one or more reports, such as final products 422, inthe one or more virtual desktop sessions 124 based on the one or moreassociated work products.

At step 506, one or more associated work products, such as working files420 of intermediate work products 134 can be stored in the evidencepackages 130 based on a forensic analysis of the first copy 417 of thesets of extracted data in the evidence packages 130. At step 508, one ormore associated work products can be stored with a second copy 424 ofthe sets of extracted data to the archive system 108, for example, asworking files 428.

At step 510, a third copy 432 of the sets of extracted data can becreated by copying the second copy 424 of the sets of extracted datafrom the primary archive storage array 126 to the secondary archivestorage array 128. The second copy 424 of the sets of extracted data canbe copied through a staging area 436 of the primary archive storagearray 126 and provided to the secondary archive storage array 128 tocreate the third copy 432.

In embodiments, the archive system 108 can replicate one or more reports(e.g., final products 420) based on the one or more associated workproducts from the primary archive storage array 126 to the secondaryarchive storage array 128, for instance, as final products 454. Each ofthe first copy 417 of the sets of extracted data, the second copy 424 ofthe sets of extracted data, and the third copy 432 of the sets ofextracted data can be cryptographically hashed to verify authenticityand an absence of modification. The archive system 108 can manage dataon the primary archive storage array 126 and the secondary archivestorage array 128 using a JBOD file system scalable to a plurality ofpetabytes, for example.

In embodiments, the one or more virtual desktop sessions 124 can beprovisioned with a predetermined configuration and toolset (e.g., tools440) operable to perform the forensic analysis based on a data sourcedevice type of the sets of extracted data. The data source device typecan be one or more of: a hard disk drive, a digital video recorder, amobile device, a USB drive, an optical medium, and a magnetic medium. Anew instance of the one or more virtual desktop sessions 124 can beprovisioned for each new analysis session. The one or more virtualdesktop sessions 124 can continue execution as one or more backgroundtasks on the virtual desktop server 112 absent user input on the one ormore analysis workstations 122.

Technical effects include rapid data storage intake, secure dataduplication with large-scale data archiving, and providing a controlledaccess environment for malware analysis.

It will be appreciated that aspects of the present invention may beembodied as a system, method, or computer program product and may takethe form of a hardware embodiment, a software embodiment (includingfirmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.), or a combinationthereof. Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the formof a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readablemedium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.

One or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computerreadable medium may comprise a computer readable signal medium or acomputer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium maycomprise, for example, an electronic, magnetic, optical,electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, ordevice, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specificexamples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage mediuminclude the following: an electrical connection having one or morewires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory(RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-onlymemory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compactdisk read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magneticstorage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In oneaspect, the computer readable storage medium may comprise a tangiblemedium containing or storing a program for use by or in connection withan instruction execution system, apparatus, and/or device.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may comprise any computer readablemedium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that cancommunicate, propagate, and/or transport a program for use by or inconnection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, and/ordevice.

The computer readable medium may contain program code embodied thereon,which may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including, butnot limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or anysuitable combination of the foregoing. In addition, computer programcode for carrying out operations for implementing aspects of the presentinvention may be written in any combination of one or more programminglanguages, including an object oriented programming language such asJava, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programminglanguages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programminglanguages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer,partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partlyon the user's computer and partly on a remote computer, or entirely onthe remote computer or server.

It will be appreciated that aspects of the present invention aredescribed herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or blockdiagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products,according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood thateach block or step of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams,and combinations of blocks or steps in the flowchart illustrationsand/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer programinstructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a computer, or other programmable data processing apparatusto produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computerreadable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable dataprocessing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. The computer program instructions may also beloaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, orother devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed onthe computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce acomputer implemented process such that the instructions which execute onthe computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

In addition, some embodiments described herein are associated with an“indication”. As used herein, the term “indication” may be used to referto any indicia and/or other information indicative of or associated witha subject, item, entity, and/or other object and/or idea. As usedherein, the phrases “information indicative of” and “indicia” may beused to refer to any information that represents, describes, and/or isotherwise associated with a related entity, subject, or object. Indiciaof information may include, for example, a code, a reference, a link, asignal, an identifier, and/or any combination thereof and/or any otherinformative representation associated with the information. In someembodiments, indicia of information (or indicative of the information)may be or include the information itself and/or any portion or componentof the information. In some embodiments, an indication may include arequest, a solicitation, a broadcast, and/or any other form ofinformation gathering and/or dissemination.

Numerous embodiments are described in this patent application, and arepresented for illustrative purposes only. The described embodiments arenot, and are not intended to be, limiting in any sense. The presentlydisclosed invention(s) are widely applicable to numerous embodiments, asis readily apparent from the disclosure. One of ordinary skill in theart will recognize that the disclosed invention(s) may be practiced withvarious modifications and alterations, such as structural, logical,software, and electrical modifications. Although particular features ofthe disclosed invention(s) may be described with reference to one ormore particular embodiments and/or drawings, it should be understoodthat such features are not limited to usage in the one or moreparticular embodiments or drawings with reference to which they aredescribed, unless expressly specified otherwise.

Devices that are in communication with each other need not be incontinuous communication with each other, unless expressly specifiedotherwise. On the contrary, such devices need only transmit to eachother as necessary or desirable, and may actually refrain fromexchanging data most of the time. For example, a machine incommunication with another machine via the Internet may not transmitdata to the other machine for weeks at a time. In addition, devices thatare in communication with each other may communicate directly orindirectly through one or more intermediaries.

A description of an embodiment with several components or features doesnot imply that all or even any of such components and/or features arerequired. On the contrary, a variety of optional components aredescribed to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of thepresent invention(s). Unless otherwise specified explicitly, nocomponent and/or feature is essential or required.

Further, although process steps, algorithms or the like may be describedin a sequential order, such processes may be configured to work indifferent orders. In other words, any sequence or order of steps thatmay be explicitly described does not necessarily indicate a requirementthat the steps be performed in that order. The steps of processesdescribed herein may be performed in any order practical. Further, somesteps may be performed simultaneously despite being described or impliedas occurring non-simultaneously (e.g., because one step is describedafter the other step). Moreover, the illustration of a process by itsdepiction in a drawing does not imply that the illustrated process isexclusive of other variations and modifications thereto, does not implythat the illustrated process or any of its steps are necessary to theinvention, and does not imply that the illustrated process is preferred.

“Determining” something can be performed in a variety of manners andtherefore the term “determining” (and like terms) includes calculating,computing, deriving, looking up (e.g., in a table, database or datastructure), ascertaining and the like.

It will be readily apparent that the various methods and algorithmsdescribed herein may be implemented by, e.g., appropriately and/orspecially-programmed computers and/or computing devices. Typically aprocessor (e.g., one or more microprocessors) will receive instructionsfrom a memory or like device, and execute those instructions, therebyperforming one or more processes defined by those instructions. Further,programs that implement such methods and algorithms may be stored andtransmitted using a variety of media (e.g., computer readable media) ina number of manners. In some embodiments, hard-wired circuitry or customhardware may be used in place of, or in combination with, softwareinstructions for implementation of the processes of various embodiments.Thus, embodiments are not limited to any specific combination ofhardware and software.

A “processor” generally means any one or more microprocessors, CPUdevices, computing devices, microcontrollers, digital signal processors,or like devices, as further described herein.

The term “computer-readable medium” refers to any medium thatparticipates in providing data (e.g., instructions or other information)that may be read by a computer, a processor or a like device. Such amedium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatilemedia, volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile mediainclude, for example, optical or magnetic disks and other persistentmemory. Volatile media include DRAM, which typically constitutes themain memory. Transmission media include coaxial cables, copper wire andfiber optics, including the wires that comprise a system bus coupled tothe processor. Transmission media may include or convey acoustic waves,light waves and electromagnetic emissions, such as those generatedduring RF and IR data communications. Common forms of computer-readablemedia include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk,magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any otheroptical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium withpatterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EEPROM, any othermemory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave, or any other medium from whicha computer can read.

The term “computer-readable memory” may generally refer to a subsetand/or class of computer-readable medium that does not includetransmission media such as waveforms, carrier waves, electromagneticemissions, etc. Computer-readable memory may typically include physicalmedia upon which data (e.g., instructions or other information) arestored, such as optical or magnetic disks and other persistent memory,DRAM, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, anyother magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any other optical medium, punchcards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, aRAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EEPROM, any other memory chip orcartridge, computer hard drives, backup tapes, Universal Serial Bus(USB) memory devices, and the like.

Various forms of computer readable media may be involved in carryingdata, including sequences of instructions, to a processor. For example,sequences of instruction (i) may be delivered from RAM to a processor,(ii) may be carried over a wireless transmission medium, and/or (iii)may be formatted according to numerous formats, standards or protocols,such as Bluetooth™, TDMA, CDMA, 3G.

Where databases are described, it will be understood by one of ordinaryskill in the art that (i) alternative database structures to thosedescribed may be readily employed, and (ii) other memory structuresbesides databases may be readily employed. Any illustrations ordescriptions of any sample databases presented herein are illustrativearrangements for stored representations of information. Any number ofother arrangements may be employed besides those suggested by, e.g.,tables illustrated in drawings or elsewhere. Similarly, any illustratedentries of the databases represent exemplary information only; one ofordinary skill in the art will understand that the number and content ofthe entries can be different from those described herein. Further,despite any depiction of the databases as tables, other formats(including relational databases, object-based models and/or distributeddatabases) could be used to store and manipulate the data typesdescribed herein. Likewise, object methods or behaviors of a databasecan be used to implement various processes, such as the describedherein. In addition, the databases may, in a known manner, be storedlocally or remotely from a device that accesses data in such a database.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of onemore other features, integers, steps, operations, element components,and/or groups thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A digital forensics system, comprising: aningestion system comprising one or more ingestion workstations operableto receive a plurality of sets of extracted data from one or moredevices under analysis; an analysis system comprising one or moreanalysis workstations; an archive system comprising a plurality ofstorage arrays; and a server system comprising: an evidence storageserver comprising a first plurality of processing and memory resourcesoperable to generate a plurality of evidence packages based on a firstcopy of the sets of extracted data from the one or more devices underanalysis; and a virtual desktop server comprising a second plurality ofprocessing and memory resources operable to generate one or more virtualdesktop sessions that interface with the one or more analysisworkstations of the analysis system and interface with the evidencestorage server to access the first copy of the sets of extracted data inthe evidence packages, store one or more associated work products in theevidence packages based on a forensic analysis of the first copy of thesets of extracted data in the evidence packages, and store the one ormore associated work products with a second copy of the sets ofextracted data to the archive system.
 2. The digital forensics system ofclaim 1, wherein the virtual desktop server is operable to create one ormore reports in the one or more virtual desktop sessions based on theone or more associated work products.
 3. The digital forensics system ofclaim 1, further comprising a write blocking device coupled between eachof the one or more ingestion workstations and the one or more devicesunder analysis, wherein the write blocking device prevents each of theone or more ingestion workstations from writing to the one or moredevices under analysis.
 4. The digital forensics system of claim 1,wherein the storage arrays of the archive system are partitioned into aprimary archive storage array and a secondary archive storage array atgeographically separated locations.
 5. The digital forensics system ofclaim 4, wherein the archive system is operable to create a third copyof the sets of extracted data by copying from the primary archivestorage array to the secondary archive storage array.
 6. The digitalforensics system of claim 5, wherein the second copy of the sets ofextracted data is copied through a staging area of the primary archivestorage array and provided to the secondary archive storage array tocreate the third copy.
 7. The digital forensics system of claim 5,wherein the archive system is operable to replicate one or more reportsbased on the one or more associated work products from the primaryarchive storage array to the secondary archive storage array.
 8. Thedigital forensics system of claim 5, wherein each of the first copy ofthe sets of extracted data, the second copy of the sets of extracteddata, and the third copy of the sets of extracted data iscryptographically hashed to verify authenticity and an absence ofmodification.
 9. The digital forensics system of claim 8, wherein eachof the first copy of the sets of extracted data, the second copy of thesets of extracted data, and the third copy of the sets of extracted datacomprise image data stored with a hash value in one or more image files.10. The digital forensics system of claim 5, wherein the archive systemmanages data on the primary archive storage array and the secondaryarchive storage array using a just-a-bunch-of-disks (JBOD) file systemscalable to a plurality of petabytes.
 11. The digital forensics systemof claim 1, wherein the one or more virtual desktop sessions areprovisioned with a predetermined configuration and toolset operable toperform the forensic analysis based on a data source device type of thesets of extracted data.
 12. The digital forensics system of claim 11,wherein the data source device type comprises one or more of: a harddisk drive, a digital video recorder, a mobile device, a universalserial bus drive, an optical medium, and a magnetic medium.
 13. Thedigital forensics system of claim 11, wherein a new instance of the oneor more virtual desktop sessions is provisioned for each new analysissession.
 14. The digital forensics system of claim 13, wherein the oneor more virtual desktop sessions are operable to continue execution asone or more background tasks on the virtual desktop server absent userinput on the one or more analysis workstations.
 15. The digitalforensics system of claim 11, further comprising a dongle serveroperable to communicate with the virtual desktop server and limit accessto one or more licenses associated with one or more applications of thetoolset.
 16. The digital forensics system of claim 1, further comprisinga malware analysis system physically separated from the ingestionsystem, the analysis system, the archive system, and the server systemby an air gap network.
 17. The digital forensics system of claim 16,wherein the malware analysis system comprises a limited access networkinterface operable to selectively allow and block one or more attemptedaccess requests with respect to an external network.
 18. The digitalforensics system of claim 17, wherein the limited access networkinterface is operable track one or more attempted interactions with oneor more remote systems across the external network.